Brownes

OVERALL

Owned

CHN

Rating

Dairy and juice producers

Est 1886. Brownes is the largest buyer of farmgate milk in Western Australia, collecting and processing approximately 40% of the state's milk production. The business operates two manufacturing plants in Balcatta (Perth) and Brunswick and has WA's most extensive chilled distribution network. In 2011 Australian private equity firm Archer Capital acquired Brownes, and sold it to a Chinese consortium led by dairy manufacturer Shanghai Ground Food Tech in 2017.

In 2014 this company was fined $100,000 by the Bunbury Magistrates Court over a major milk spill from its Brunswick processing facility into a nearby waterway in November 2011. 140,000 litres of milk spilt from a silo resulting in fish deaths and creek water not being able to be used for 4 weeks. The company spent $387,000 on cleaning up and admitted not conducting recommended maintenance checks.[Source 2014][More on Habitats]

The Australian Consumer and Competition Commission (ACCC) will scrutinise very carefully new contracts being issued by this company to their milk suppliers. The new contracts carry penalties for undersupplying milk. This is 12 months after the company refused to renew 4 supplier contracts due to oversupply and some farmers claimed that they were intimidated.[Source 2017][More on Governance]

This company was one of five major dairy processors that agreed to amend its milk supply agreements after The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) found them to be unfair. The ACCC said it had raised concerns with some processors about lengthy notice periods for farmers to terminate their contracts, one-sided termination rights, broad indemnities, and terms that restrict a farmer's ability to lease a farm or sell their cattle.[Source 2018][More on Governance]

Shanghai Ground Food Tech Co Ltd

No assessment data currently available for Shanghai Ground Food Tech Co Ltd